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Import Duties: Tax Allowances

Asked by James McMurdockIndependentTreasuryTabled Answered 15 July 2026UIN 16826

The question

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HM Revenue and Customs' press release entitled Government backs high street with acceleration of cheap import reforms and crackdown on dodgy online sellers, published on 23 June 2026, what estimate she has made of the amount of customs duty foregone through the low-value import relief in each of the last five years.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson

HM Revenue and Customs has developed estimates of the revenue impacts of reforming the customs treatment of low value imports for policy development and forecasting purposes. As set out at Autumn Budget 2025, the Government estimated that reforming the customs treatment of low value imports would raise around £500 million per year once fully implemented. Comparable estimates of customs duty foregone in the last five years is not available.

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